Eurosport pockets strong World Snooker Championship ratings

The number one sports destination for European sports fans posted the second-best World Snooker Championship ever on Eurosport after an average live audience of one million fanatics across Europe watched the world’s greatest players go toe-to-toe live over 17 days of competition at The Crucible in Sheffield, England.

A tournament-best peak of nearly 2.5m viewers tuned in to Eurosport to watch the thrilling conclusion to the final on Monday evening between Mark Selby and John Higgins – a match that saw the “Jester from Leicester” Selby secure his third world title.

In further good news, Eurosport also reported its record average live audience numbers for the World Snooker Championship in Poland (+39% vs 2016) and Norway (+14% vs 2016). Average live audience figures in Spain also grew substantially with an increase of 88% compared with 2016.

Eurosport CEO Peter Hutton said: “We are delighted to be able to show some of the world’s best sportspeople ply their trade on our channels.

"Even though Mark Selby deservedly won another world title, there is a new generation of snooker player emerging which is particularly exciting for fans watching on our channels given we have the rights to the tournament until 2026."

The blue-riband event on the snooker calendar was broadcast exclusively on Eurosport across Europe*, with in excess of 135 hours of live action shown on its television and Eurosport Player platforms, cementing its position as the Home of Snooker.

*Non-exclusive in the UK